Why newly elected Pope Leo XIV won't receive a salary as Vatican rules explained
Pope Leo XIV, the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church, will not receive a salary - well, not in the traditional sense anyway.
After 133 cardinals met up in the secret conclave meeting, which lasted 24 hours, Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected as the head of the world’s 1.4 billion-member church on Thursday (8 May).
The Chicago-born pontiff, who spent his career ministering in Peru, became the first North American pope in the church’s 2,000-year history.
The 69-year-old is seven years younger than Pope Francis was when he was elected in 2013.
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And in his first words as pope in Italian and Spanish, he told the Vatican City crowd: “Peace be with you.”
But having become one of the most powerful men in the world overnight, it seems the new pope won't be paid a traditional salary.
Instead, the Vatican will provide all financial needs, from housing, food and transportation to other expenses in the form of stipends, reports Fox News.
The Vatican, referred to as its own little country, happens to be 'an economy that relies on a combination of donations, private enterprises, and investments to generate revenue,' Investopedia claims.
It comes after Pope Francis, who passed away on Easter Monday, was worth just $100 at the time of his death.
Reports suggested that the pope rejected a proposed papal salary and donated much of his earnings put up by the Vatican.
Well, on Friday morning (9 May) Leo XIV celebrated his first Mass with his fellow cardinals in the Sistine Chapel.
Speaking to the cardinals, Pope Leo said: "God has called me by your election to succeed the prince of the apostles, and has entrusted this treasure to me.
"For we are the people whom God has chosen as his own, so that we may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called us out of darkness into his marvellous light."
The pope went on to say that a 'lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life' and 'violations of human dignity'.
He added: "Today, too, there are many settings in which Jesus, although appreciated as a man, is reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman.
"This is true not only among non-believers but also among many baptised Christians, who thus end up living, at this level, in a state of practical atheism.
"This is the world that has been entrusted to us, a world in which, as Pope Francis taught us so many times, we are called to bear witness to our joyful faith in Jesus the Saviour.
"Therefore, it is essential that we too repeat, with Peter: 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God'."
Topics: Pope Leo, Pope Francis
Anish Vij